Alcohol (or the Liver is a bad organ and deserves to be punished)

[Vitis]

For those of legal age in their country what is your alcohol of choice?
Have any brand loyalty in any of your alcohols?
Have any good cocktails lately?
Have a recipe for a cocktail you've made recently that you'd like to share?
Do you believe that fresh ingredients are always better than shelf stable ones?
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I tend to gravitate towards Vodka myself, it's cheap and it's a good mixer bumping up alcohol by volume without adding it's own notes to the cocktail really as it's pretty much designed to get lost behind other flavors. (unless it's an infused vodka, but meh)

Personally not super loyal to any brand though there are things I'll gravitate towards if available in a bar or specific brands I'll personally brand as well as some I'll avoid like the plague. Svedka is my workhorse, around here it's cheap and it's smooth, vodkas are supposed to be neutral so pretty much any vodka works as long as it's not a rotgut brand, and when it comes to alcohol you're generally paying for the advertising. A more expensive product doesn't mean better product by any means and if you look up pretty much any non-bottom of the barrel vodka chances are it's won some award or another just like the expensive premium brands that are heavily advertised. Tequila I'll stick to a blanco feel like that's the more pure option as aging allows a worse Tequila to get by with their flaws as the notes mellow so it hides the harsher ones. I personally buy Cabo Wabo, it's 100% agave, cheap and works for me, but at a bar anything that isn't Jose Cuervo will honestly work, if they only have Cuervo I'm not drinking it it's not real tequila and just invites you to feel like garbage from the filler ingredients in it's 50% tequila 50% filler blend of failure. Among others like Kraken, Senor Curacao (only curacao worth buying, but sadly isn't available around here so I'm curacao-less and my life is sadder for it since we moved a few months back), Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur as a Triple Sec (also not available around here so I'll use Gran Gala for my Triple Sec needs pars well with a Tequila and cheaper than Gran Marnier (better too IMO)) and Rumpleminze which I take medicinally for it's peppermint oil when needed.

Been sticking to trying to empty out some bottles as we overbought so my cocktails as of late have been pretty simple, Cuba Libres, Screwdrivers, Cape Codgers hat sort of thing haven't even used the Margarita maker yet due to the mess it creates and the currently limited kitchen space, but soon very soon.

No recipes I've made recently, but I do make a cherry cinnamon lemon drop that I'm quite fond of.
2 parts Vodka
2 parts Lemon Juice
1 part Triple Sec
1 part Maraschino Syrup (sunken)
1 part Kirschwasser (if you can get ahold of it, if not just add extra cherry bitters)
3-4 dashes Bittercube Cherry Bark Bitters (Buy good bitters you'll thank me later so highly recommend Bittercube)
2-3 dashes Orange bitters (Bittermens and Bittercube both have an orange bitters, they both different so you can pick either but the flavor will change, both are quality bitters though.)
1 Maraschino Cherry (I personally recommend Traverse City Whiskey Company cherries)
Rim glass with Mexican Cinnamon (ceylon cinnamon)
Top with liquid smoke infused Whipped Cream
Finally sprinkle Mexican Cinnamon over the whipped cream.

Fresh ingredients are always better with some exceptions IMO. Some ingredients go bad so quickly when fresh that at least for a home bar you're going to be wasting a lot of product over the course however especially if you don't hate your liver enough to be an alcoholic. I also find that Italian Volcano Lemon juice is honestly better than fresh squeezed, it's a consistently good product, you don't have to worry about seeds when squeezing your lemons or really worry about getting a lemon that's questionable.

 

[minamoto]

ok????..

 

[Im_not_Osama_bin_laden]

Yes

 

[Chikombo]

I don't drink that often.

 

[Avonomemi]

Sooo yeah, wow

Post automatically merged: Jul 12, 2020

@minamoto nahhh yo, I don't take alcohol.

 

[GrapeApe]

i dont really drink often, makes working out harder

but on rare occasion i like cognac, specifically Hennessy. but i also like vodka and whiskey, really doesnt matter on brand cause i drink to get shaded or feel something. though scotch is fucking nasty as hell

i also like drinking wine, red specifically, its a chill buzz but specifically with dinner at least once or twice a month. whats crazy was when i went to Rome for the first time on tour, they drink wine with every meal, even the kids are allowed to drink it, that was trip

 

[Vitis]

Black Peppermint-Strawberry Mojito
2 parts Black Rum
1 part Peppermint Schnapps (Rumpleminze)
1 part lime juice
2 parts Demerara Syrup (I like switching to Orange Blossom Honey on occasion too)
2 parts Strawberry Syrup
Muddle Fresh Peppermint leaves
3 dashes Tiki Bitters
Fill with Lemon-Lime Soda
Rim glass with crushed peppermint candy
Garnish with a fresh strawberry, lime wedge and a candy cane (candy cane is because I'm a whimsical free spirit)

 

[Premfection]

I probably drink 3 times a week. Honestly I thank my night job or I'd probably drink more. Ngl.
My best friend actually loves mixing drinks and making all sorts of concoctions and I've been thinking of learning to make different drinks myself. Might steal that recipe you got there

I sometimes take shots of vodka and whisky (fireball cinnamon whisky). I definitely prefer cinnamon whisky over anything else - for vodka i usually go for Tito's vodka. I dont love downing vodka shots and if i have nothing else ill mix it with orange juice to make a screwdriver or something else. But Im not completely against downing a shot or 2 of vodka if im in the modd just to get drunk - but not something i love to do often and i dont really enjoy it lol. I also get rum and tequila sometimes.
I like long island iced teas - tastes okay and can get me where i need to get quickly.
Margaritas, especially watermelon margaritas are also a to-go drink for me. I like the sweet stuff basically.

For beer I love coronas, put a little lime or lemon in it and be on my way. I also like bud lime-ritas.

 

[Vitis]

I probably drink 3 times a week. Honestly I thank my night job or I'd probably drink more. Ngl.
My best friend actually loves mixing drinks and making all sorts of concoctions and I've been thinking of learning to make different drinks myself. Might steal that recipe you got there

I sometimes take shots of vodka and whisky (fireball cinnamon whisky). I definitely prefer cinnamon whisky over anything else - for vodka i usually go for Tito's vodka. I dont love downing vodka shots and if i have nothing else ill mix it with orange juice to make a screwdriver or something else. But Im not completely against downing a shot or 2 of vodka if im in the modd just to get drunk - but not something i love to do often and i dont really enjoy it lol. I also get rum and tequila sometimes.
I like long island iced teas - tastes okay and can get me where i need to get quickly.
Margaritas, especially watermelon margaritas are also a to-go drink for me. I like the sweet stuff basically.

For beer I love coronas, put a little lime or lemon in it and be on my way. I also like bud lime-ritas.

I tweak almost all of my recipes to better suit my tastes at least for the more involved recipes. I don't have too many people who are outgoing with their drinking to use as labrats so it's more a personal taste. All you need to know to make a balanced drink is a drink is a Spirit, a Sugar, an Acid and water if you balance that you'll end up with a good cocktail and most cocktails out there are balanced cocktails following that rule a very popular exception would be the Pina Colada which is a woefully imbalanced cocktail but still works ofcourse. I'd give a warning for my recipes they tend to be a heavy pour and lean towards the acidic side so like all cocktail recipes they're more starting points than hard and fast rules. A little simple syrup or more cherry syrup will take down some of the acid (or even more triple sec if you prefer a sweeter brand) whereas if you want to reduce the abv simply dilute it a bit ofcourse. Then you also have to consider the brands, if you buy different brands you get a totally different taste. If you get a Cuervo margarita you might as well just ram yourself into a wall and save yourself the trouble of drinking the swill, but the difference between say Sparkle Donkey Respasado and a Cabo Wabo Blanco, you can get entirely different notes to come through in a mixed cocktail. If you like more tequila forward drinks get Gran Gala or Patron Citronage as your Triple Sec. (Patron is mostly expensive garbage (it's fine tequila I mean it's not great tequila, but it's fine it's just you're paying a ton more for their product due to the name and not the quality of their product), but their Triple Sec is a good mixer Triple Sec if you want that alcohol burn to come through a bit more, drinking it straight it tastes like orange flavored gasoline though at least for me)

My condolences for your tastebuds and liver for drinking fireball. Have you considered infusing your own? Fireball is woefully unhealthy and that's even for an alcohol and the flavor you're getting is essentially poison, it's Saigon Cinnamon oil and the level of coumarin in that is just asking for trouble exceptionally when you add that with alcohol.

Screwdrivers are nice, but for a simple cocktail I go for the Cape Codder or even a Sea Breeze with breakfast. Tito's is a respectable tasteless cheap vodka, it has 0 personality and mixes perfectly, good choice. (all the properties that would make it a poor anything else XD) Tito's isn't a shot Vodka, if you're doing shots you probably want something in there or even a twist of lime or something so that might be contributing to not going for shot's if Tito's is your go to. Does 2 shots really get you drunk? The Long Island is the strongest cocktail in the world that is still considered a cocktail and that's because it's literally just alcohols mixed together with a splash of cola for some color. If you like Long Islands already though they have some great variants that are just as good if not better. Next time you're ordering a Long Island maybe try a 3 Mile Island or an AMF (stands for Adios MotherF***er if you want to order it that way) My go to margarita is a whitebark raspberry blood orange margarita with a salted rim on the rocks. It's an odd purple color, but that blue raspberry mixing with the subtle sweet and tart tail of blood orange just work for me, always a salt guy for a margarita opens the tastebuds for the tequila notes to come through behind the fruit flavors. If you make them yourselves make sure you get some 100% Blue Agave Syrup to use as your sugar, yes it's a processed sugar like high fructose corn syrup, but it's going to match the sweetness in the tequila if you have real tequila (real tequila always will say 100% Agave on it, if it doesn't DO NOT buy it. Hornitos is decent dirt cheap tequila if you're going to a party and don't want to break the bank but still want passable drink grab the Hornitos.)

Don't do beer at all, never beer, wine, maybe a brandy as a mixer I technically Kirschwasser is a type of brandy-esque spirit after all and it's great as a mixer a little "funky" straight for my tastes, but I do know it's popular to do straight too, nice cherry notes and the bitter 'funk' comes from the seeds being used in it unlike what would otherwise be a cherry schnapps or cherry liqueur. Luxardo makes a solid cherry mixer liqueur similar to Kirschwasser a lot easier to get, but it's from Marasca cherries (maraschino liqueur) so you do get some notable differences between the two.

 

[Premfection]

I tweak almost all of my recipes to better suit my tastes at least for the more involved recipes. I don't have too many people who are outgoing with their drinking to use as labrats so it's more a personal taste. All you need to know to make a balanced drink is a drink is a Spirit, a Sugar, an Acid and water if you balance that you'll end up with a good cocktail and most cocktails out there are balanced cocktails following that rule a very popular exception would be the Pina Colada which is a woefully imbalanced cocktail but still works ofcourse. I'd give a warning for my recipes they tend to be a heavy pour and lean towards the acidic side so like all cocktail recipes they're more starting points than hard and fast rules. A little simple syrup or more cherry syrup will take down some of the acid (or even more triple sec if you prefer a sweeter brand) whereas if you want to reduce the abv simply dilute it a bit ofcourse. Then you also have to consider the brands, if you buy different brands you get a totally different taste. If you get a Cuervo margarita you might as well just ram yourself into a wall and save yourself the trouble of drinking the swill, but the difference between say Sparkle Donkey Respasado and a Cabo Wabo Blanco, you can get entirely different notes to come through in a mixed cocktail. If you like more tequila forward drinks get Gran Gala or Patron Citronage as your Triple Sec. (Patron is mostly expensive garbage (it's fine tequila I mean it's not great tequila, but it's fine it's just you're paying a ton more for their product due to the name and not the quality of their product), but their Triple Sec is a good mixer Triple Sec if you want that alcohol burn to come through a bit more, drinking it straight it tastes like orange flavored gasoline though at least for me)

My condolences for your tastebuds and liver for drinking fireball. Have you considered infusing your own? Fireball is woefully unhealthy and that's even for an alcohol and the flavor you're getting is essentially poison, it's Saigon Cinnamon oil and the level of coumarin in that is just asking for trouble exceptionally when you add that with alcohol.

Screwdrivers are nice, but for a simple cocktail I go for the Cape Codder or even a Sea Breeze with breakfast. Tito's is a respectable tasteless cheap vodka, it has 0 personality and mixes perfectly, good choice. (all the properties that would make it a poor anything else XD) Tito's isn't a shot Vodka, if you're doing shots you probably want something in there or even a twist of lime or something so that might be contributing to not going for shot's if Tito's is your go to. Does 2 shots really get you drunk? The Long Island is the strongest cocktail in the world that is still considered a cocktail and that's because it's literally just alcohols mixed together with a splash of cola for some color. If you like Long Islands already though they have some great variants that are just as good if not better. Next time you're ordering a Long Island maybe try a 3 Mile Island or an AMF (stands for Adios MotherF***er if you want to order it that way) My go to margarita is a whitebark raspberry blood orange margarita with a salted rim on the rocks. It's an odd purple color, but that blue raspberry mixing with the subtle sweet and tart tail of blood orange just work for me, always a salt guy for a margarita opens the tastebuds for the tequila notes to come through behind the fruit flavors. If you make them yourselves make sure you get some 100% Blue Agave Syrup to use as your sugar, yes it's a processed sugar like high fructose corn syrup, but it's going to match the sweetness in the tequila if you have real tequila (real tequila always will say 100% Agave on it, if it doesn't DO NOT buy it. Hornitos is decent dirt cheap tequila if you're going to a party and don't want to break the bank but still want passable drink grab the Hornitos.)

Don't do beer at all, never beer, wine, maybe a brandy as a mixer I technically Kirschwasser is a type of brandy-esque spirit after all and it's great as a mixer a little "funky" straight for my tastes, but I do know it's popular to do straight too, nice cherry notes and the bitter 'funk' comes from the seeds being used in it unlike what would otherwise be a cherry schnapps or cherry liqueur. Luxardo makes a solid cherry mixer liqueur similar to Kirschwasser a lot easier to get, but it's from Marasca cherries (maraschino liqueur) so you do get some notable differences between the two.

Oh yea I forgot to mention I drink wine a lot, actually the most I'm surprised I forgot that. Even went to a few wine tastings in new york that were very fun. I like the sweet wines most or semi-dry, my favorite wines are reistling.

And oh man, I didnt know much about cinnamon whiskey tbh - but what you said makes it sounds kinda bad lol. I'll look into it, tbf I dont drink it that much even if it's one of my more favorite whiskeys to take as a shot - mostly because I dont love taking shots in general. And naw lol, it takes a lot more than 2 shots of anything to get me drunk. I'm not a heavy drinker but by no means do I think it's easy to get me drunk - I'd say about 4 shots of anything, if I decide to take shots (vodka, whiskey, rum, tequila which all seem to have around the same alcohol content) along with a decent sized margarita (like a small wine glass amount) will get me decently drunk. Anything more than that I think is overdoing it - I try to get a decent buzz but am trying to avoid any hangover or whatever for me the next day - I've sometimes overdone it bad and was out of commission for the next day. I dont like feeling that way at all.

 

[Vitis]

Oh yea I forgot to mention I drink wine a lot, actually the most I'm surprised I forgot that. Even went to a few wine tastings in new york that were very fun. I like the sweet wines most or semi-dry, my favorite wines are reistling.

And oh man, I didnt know much about cinnamon whiskey tbh - but what you said makes it sounds kinda bad lol. I'll look into it, tbf I dont drink it that much even if it's one of my more favorite whiskeys to take as a shot - mostly because I dont love taking shots in general. And naw lol, it takes a lot more than 2 shots of anything to get me drunk. I'm not a heavy drinker but by no means do I think it's easy to get me drunk - I'd say about 4 shots of anything, if I decide to take shots (vodka, whiskey, rum, tequila which all seem to have around the same alcohol content) along with a decent sized margarita (like a small wine glass amount) will get me decently drunk. Anything more than that I think is overdoing it - I try to get a decent buzz but am trying to avoid any hangover or whatever for me the next day - I've sometimes overdone it bad and was out of commission for the next day. I dont like feeling that way at all.

Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanus. To drink is human, therefore let us drink. Never could get behind wine, but I also don't go in for sparkling grape juice, maybe I just hate liquid grapes.

Yeah people seldom look into things until there is a problem, but I admit that I tend to be a bit overly cautious when I don't always need to be. The way I figure it is don't take unneeded risk when you can skirt around the risk and end up not losing anything. A cinnamon whiskey with Ceylon Cinnamon has 250 times less of the liver shutting down toxin that isn't easily removed and compounds if you keep consuming cinnamon without it fully flushing out of your system. Being the flavor is derived directly from the oil id est the actual literal thing that is causing the potential health benefit and in highly concentrated amounts it never seemed worth the risk for me. I'd consider 4 shots and a margarita getting you decently drunk as being easy to get you drunk, but people think I'm an alcoholic sooo there's a bit of wiggle room for a happy medium I suppose. I take about 4 shots in a single screwdriver personally I call it drink security people don't want to try what you're having if they take a sip of it and spit it right back out. XD Just because you drink doesn't mean you'll get a hangover in fact if you're getting a hangover it's more likely to be the quality of the alcohol you're consuming. As I mentioned before Jose Cuervo will give anybody a hangover, but it's garbage if you're having margaritas and you aren't sure what tequila they're using well Jose Cuervo Gold is dirt cheap so bars like to slip it in to save money and you'll end up paying for it later. Other than that if a spirit has too large of a head or tail you're actually getting into poison territory and thus you have a negative reaction the reason it exists at all is because if you dip more into the head or tail then you get more product out of it which is good from a company point of view, but the tail of an alcohol is going to be your isopropyl alcohol and that'll make you go blind if you're lucky and kill you if your not. (It's like drinking rubbing alcohol because it IS rubbing alcohol) If you're getting hangovers easily I'd just say look at your ingredients maybe switch them around and see if you have better luck it may cure the hangover out though obviously different people are more prone to them than others. I've never had a hangover that wasn't caused by a bad product in my life and I've had a few nights I can't remember and blacked out. You know the story I was young it was my birthday went out for drinks ordered a margarita didn't special order a tequila, I deeply regret it also what was in the house at the time was Cuervo so I powered through the bottle and never got another one and always special order tequilas since and never had a hangover since either. Also couldn't keep it down only a single time, but that was dragonfruit vodka and it wasn't fit for human consumption, I was sick for a week after just one shot so I don't blame my drinking habits for that.